Tuesday 24 February 2015
Saudi sentenced to death for abusing Islam
Man also charged with ripping copy of Holy Koran
A Saudi court sentenced a local man to death after he was found guilty of insulting Islam and its Prophet (PBUH), a newspaper reported on Monday.
The unidentified man, in his 20s, was also charged with ripping a copy of the Holy Koran, filming the act and publishing it on social networks, ‘Sharq’ said.
“The court sentenced the man to beheaded after finding him guilty in those charges,” the paper said in a report from the northeastern town of Hafr Albatin.
It said a three-judge panel issued the death verdict against the defendant but it did not make clear if he can appeal.
A Saudi court sentenced a local man to death after he was found guilty of insulting Islam and its Prophet (PBUH), a newspaper reported on Monday.
The unidentified man, in his 20s, was also charged with ripping a copy of the Holy Koran, filming the act and publishing it on social networks, ‘Sharq’ said.
“The court sentenced the man to beheaded after finding him guilty in those charges,” the paper said in a report from the northeastern town of Hafr Albatin.
It said a three-judge panel issued the death verdict against the defendant but it did not make clear if he can appeal.
Despite peace deal, MIC man sues RoS over fresh polls directive
A Barisan Nasional-brokered (BN) peace deal is at risk in MIC after a central working committee member filed a judicial review to compel the authorities to retract an order for fresh party polls.K.Ramalingam, who is the MIC strategic director, filed the ex-parte application for the court to set aside directives from the Registrar of Societies (RoS) to ask the MIC to conduct fresh election for three vice-presidents and 23 CWC positions.
The suit names the respondents as the RoS and its director-general Mohammad Razin Abdullah. The judicial review was filed at the High Court here through Messrs Selvam Shanmugam & Partners.
In the suit, Ramalingam named RoS and Mohammad Razin as respondents and sought a review of the RoS's action through four directives dated December 5, 2014, December 31, 2014, January 6, 2015 and February 6.
Ramalingam claimed the directives sent by the respondent should be deemed mala-fide and ultra vires.
On January 3, MIC president Datuk Seri G.Palanivel in a surprise move named Ramalingam as the new Strategic Director of MIC replacing Datuk Seri Vell Paari, who is the son of former party president Datuk Seri Samy Vellu.
The MIC internal crisis started following its election of three vice-presidents and 23 central working committee members in 2013 during the party's Annual General Meeting.
Last week, Palanivel had abandoned the court battle after BN thrashed out a peace deal with his estranged deputy president Datuk Seri Dr S.Subramaniam.
Palanivel's faction had prepared to go to court over the RoS "interference" in MIC affairs, while Dr Subramaniam's supporters had gathered a number of branch chairmen and announced a challenge for the top party post.
According to The Star, both sides are expected to launch a full line-up for all posts – branch chairmen, division heads, the 23 CWC posts, three vice-presidencies and the deputy president’s post.
This is the first time in MIC’s 69-year history that two clear factions are fighting for control and power.
Heavy jostling has also broken out among prospective candidates to be included in the respective line-ups of the two leaders.
Palanivel has promised to call for a meeting of the 2009 CWC after the Chinese New Year holidays, and Dr Subramaniam has agreed to attend.
The 2009 CWC is deemed valid but the 2013 CWC, which was elected under Palanivel’s leadership as president in December 2013, has been declared invalid by the RoS because of numerous irregularities in the elections.
The 2009 CWC is also tasked with forming an independent election committee which will conduct the elections as per the RoS decision in a January 6 letter to the MIC. – February 23, 2015.
Saiful moves on, will not repeat sodomy testimony
Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's former aide who had accused the opposition leader of sodomy, said today he has no intention of repeating the testimony he had given in court anywhere else.In a blog post, Saiful said that his testimony in the High Court previously had been recorded in the trial proceedings.
"So, the way I see it, I don't have to repeat it outside of the court. The accused (Anwar) has already been convicted and is serving his sentence," he said.
On February 10, the Federal Court found Anwar guilty of sodomising his former aide Saiful in a condominium unit at Bukit Damansara, Kuala Lumpur, on June 26, 2008.
Anwar was handed a five-year jail term and is currently serving his sentence at the Sungai Buloh prison.
The former political aide was believed to be referring to the Umno-sponsored nationwide road show to explain the judgment in Anwar's conviction, which features the lead prosecutor of the case Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah.
Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin had said that Barisan Nasional (BN) will be going on a nationwide road show, which will feature Shafee, to explain the Federal Court judgment on Anwar's sodomy case now that the judiciary process has ended.
He said that the party has been accused and criticised for orchestrating a political conspiracy against Anwar since he was first charged in 2008, but it has kept silent all these years as it did not want to be in contempt of court.
Shafee has come under severe criticism following the conviction for going on a tirade against Anwar despite his incarceration, with many saying that such actions were unbecoming of a senior lawyer and that by doing so, he had clearly acted beyond his scope as prosecutor representing the Attorney-General's Chambers in the sodomy appeal.
Saiful, 30, lamented through his blog that he has endured a tough and challenging life before and after the case came to an end in the court of law, adding that his focus now is to "survive" with his wife and child.
"I have been wallowing in this case for seven years. My life was very tough and challenging. My immediate focus is to survive, support my wife and child, build a life and keep moving forward," he said.
"Although it will be hard, I believe that blessings come from Allah. Allah is not cruel."
The former political aide said that these days, many parties were giving their different opinions about the trial and appeal proceedings that have been decided, but added that they should read and understand the judgment first before drawing their opinions.
He said many are dissecting the judgment but added that it was their right.
In the lengthy posting, Saiful also noted that while there were some people who genuinely helped him and stood up for him, there were others who did so for their own selfish reasons and political gain.
"Helping me is furthest from their minds," he said.
"There are those who believe the case is true but have purposely denied the truth to the public, for the sake of the survival of their organisations and themselves.
"And for those who do not believe this case, they will continue to attack me and will never believe despite the evidence shown. But that's alright, I will always pray that Allah will open their eyes to the truth. I am not affected nor will I bear any grudge." – February 23, 2015
Sirul: I have nothing to say... for now
The much-anticipated conference call today
between PAS information chief Mahfuz Omar with fugitive police commando
Sirul Azhar Umar proved an anti-climax, with Sirul saying he had
nothing to say at the present time.
"I fully respect the authority of the Australian government, whose protection I am under, and I need to respect Australia.
"I do not wish to make a statement at this moment. However, I will try to make a statement at a more approprate time.
"I
would also like to thank all Malaysian media for their coverage and I
would to express my heartfelt gratitude to the Australian government,
which has provided me with full protection, besides safe and comfortable
accomodation," Sirul said.
Sirul also mentioned that he was waiting for Mahfuz to call him earlier. He then said 'Thank you' with a catch in his voice.
Immediately after this, Sirul disconnected the mobile phone line without taking any questions from Mahfuz or from the remaining reporters present.
The call came after repeated attempts earlier to reach Sirul for the much-touted conference call failed. Most of the media had already left when Sirul finally was reached at 1.28pm.
Mahfuz earlier made numerous attempts to hold his conference call with Sirul in front of the press.
Will visit Australia
The conference call was supposed to be held at 11.30am at the PAS headquarters in Kuala Lumpur. It was a packed event.
However, repeated attempts by Mahfuz to call Sirul's phone was futile. He gave up after about 40 minutes.
Mahfuz also showed the press his text message exchange with Sirul to show that the latter was ready for the conference call.
Following this, Mahfuz said that he would be trying to visit Sirul, with the latter's mother Piah Samad, 74, next week. Details are to be announced on Friday.
"We will be there for a week to visit Sirul. A press conference will be held, most probably on Friday, to announce the date we are leaving," said Mahfuz, who is also the Pokok Sena MP.
It is not certain why the calls failed. Mahfuz and his assistants had attempted to use several mobile network providers to contact Sirul, but to no avail.
Reporters at the scene also complained that they were experiencing abnormally poor network coverage at the PAS headquarters.
Ball at Sirul's feet
Previously, Malaysiakini had managed to contact Sirul who lamented that he was convicted based on circumstantial evidence and that he was merely following orders - which led to his encounter with Altantuya Shariibuu in October 2006.
Last
month, the Federal Court upheld the conviction of Sirul and Azilah
Hadri for the murder of Altantuya, a Mongolian national, and their death
sentence.
Sirul fled to Australia before the Federal Court decision. As he is on the Interpol red list, Australian authorities are holding him at an immigration facility in Villawood, Sydney.
Australia has stated that it is bound by laws that prevent Sirul's repatriation, unless Malaysia promises not to impose the death sentence on him.
However, Malaysiakini has learned that several Australia media outlets are attempting to interview Sirul and are in contact with him.
"I fully respect the authority of the Australian government, whose protection I am under, and I need to respect Australia.
"I do not wish to make a statement at this moment. However, I will try to make a statement at a more approprate time.
"I
would also like to thank all Malaysian media for their coverage and I
would to express my heartfelt gratitude to the Australian government,
which has provided me with full protection, besides safe and comfortable
accomodation," Sirul said.Sirul also mentioned that he was waiting for Mahfuz to call him earlier. He then said 'Thank you' with a catch in his voice.
Immediately after this, Sirul disconnected the mobile phone line without taking any questions from Mahfuz or from the remaining reporters present.
The call came after repeated attempts earlier to reach Sirul for the much-touted conference call failed. Most of the media had already left when Sirul finally was reached at 1.28pm.
Mahfuz earlier made numerous attempts to hold his conference call with Sirul in front of the press.
Will visit Australia
The conference call was supposed to be held at 11.30am at the PAS headquarters in Kuala Lumpur. It was a packed event.
However, repeated attempts by Mahfuz to call Sirul's phone was futile. He gave up after about 40 minutes.
Mahfuz also showed the press his text message exchange with Sirul to show that the latter was ready for the conference call.Following this, Mahfuz said that he would be trying to visit Sirul, with the latter's mother Piah Samad, 74, next week. Details are to be announced on Friday.
"We will be there for a week to visit Sirul. A press conference will be held, most probably on Friday, to announce the date we are leaving," said Mahfuz, who is also the Pokok Sena MP.
It is not certain why the calls failed. Mahfuz and his assistants had attempted to use several mobile network providers to contact Sirul, but to no avail.
Reporters at the scene also complained that they were experiencing abnormally poor network coverage at the PAS headquarters.
Ball at Sirul's feet
Previously, Malaysiakini had managed to contact Sirul who lamented that he was convicted based on circumstantial evidence and that he was merely following orders - which led to his encounter with Altantuya Shariibuu in October 2006.
Last
month, the Federal Court upheld the conviction of Sirul and Azilah
Hadri for the murder of Altantuya, a Mongolian national, and their death
sentence.Sirul fled to Australia before the Federal Court decision. As he is on the Interpol red list, Australian authorities are holding him at an immigration facility in Villawood, Sydney.
Australia has stated that it is bound by laws that prevent Sirul's repatriation, unless Malaysia promises not to impose the death sentence on him.
However, Malaysiakini has learned that several Australia media outlets are attempting to interview Sirul and are in contact with him.
PKR to lobby Australian gov't for Sirul interview
PKR will start lobbying the Australian
government, via several Australian lawmakers, to greenlight a public
media interview with Sirul Azhar Umar from the immigration detention
facility he is being held at in Sydney.
Sirul has been sentenced to death in Malaysia for the murder of Mongolian translator Altantuya Shaariibuu in 2006.
The party has started engaging with several Australian lawmakers, who in turn will apply to the Australian government to approve such an interview and allow it to be broadcast.
"We are also in contact with an Australian lawmaker to try and meet Sirul personally in order to ensure his safety," PKR secretary-general Rafizi Ramli said today.
So far, PKR's Pakatan Rakyat partner PAS has been in touch with Sirul and his family.
Rafizi
said that based on the party's understanding after several initial
engagements with the Australian front, Sirul would be unable to make any
media comments at the moment, until and unless such an attempt is
approved directly by the Australian government.
"So far, at the forefront there is (Australian senator) Nick Xenophon (right). We also have good relationships with several lawmakers from the Greens and Australian Labor Party (ALP).
"But they can't be named at the moment as they are bound by their party regulations respectively. They will discuss with their party whips respectively," Rafizi said.
Rafizi said that the party expects some results for its lobbying efforts within "one or two weeks".
"For the next one or two weeks, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak will be having some sleepless nights," Rafizi said.
Najib had previously described Sirul's claims that the murder was committed "under orders" to be "totally rubbish."
Sirul has been sentenced to death in Malaysia for the murder of Mongolian translator Altantuya Shaariibuu in 2006.
The party has started engaging with several Australian lawmakers, who in turn will apply to the Australian government to approve such an interview and allow it to be broadcast.
"We are also in contact with an Australian lawmaker to try and meet Sirul personally in order to ensure his safety," PKR secretary-general Rafizi Ramli said today.
So far, PKR's Pakatan Rakyat partner PAS has been in touch with Sirul and his family.
Rafizi
said that based on the party's understanding after several initial
engagements with the Australian front, Sirul would be unable to make any
media comments at the moment, until and unless such an attempt is
approved directly by the Australian government."So far, at the forefront there is (Australian senator) Nick Xenophon (right). We also have good relationships with several lawmakers from the Greens and Australian Labor Party (ALP).
"But they can't be named at the moment as they are bound by their party regulations respectively. They will discuss with their party whips respectively," Rafizi said.
Rafizi said that the party expects some results for its lobbying efforts within "one or two weeks".
"For the next one or two weeks, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak will be having some sleepless nights," Rafizi said.
Najib had previously described Sirul's claims that the murder was committed "under orders" to be "totally rubbish."
The Sikh who almost became VC of UM
COMMENT When
my enigmatic and soft-spoken uncle passed away recently, aged 82, little
did I expect it would set me off on an all-consuming journey to trace
his life.
My beloved uncle is Professor Dr Satwant Singh Dhaliwal; a leader and teacher, one who never hungered for the limelight but was revered nonetheless by his family, friends and fellow academics from around the world.
Yes, he never made it as vice-chancellor of the University of Malaya (UM), but he did serve as acting vice-chancellor for a while. Son of a retired postmaster in Teluk Anson (now Teluk Intan), he worked his way up to the upper echelons of academic greatness in his lifetime.
A Nelson, who was Satwant’s varsity mate, adds, “When I first met him he had the gait of an army general! We got along famously and stayed together at the newly-opened Dunearn Road Hostel (in Singapore) in 1953.
An
upstanding gentleman, he was a great scholar who was ferociously
dedicated to his passion for science. He did not compromise on
standards. Many fellow students were jealous of him because he was a
very bright spark. We had lecturers from all over the world and the
University of Malaya was regarded as among the top 20 in the world
then!”
Celebrated historian and Emeritus Professor Khoo Kay Kim, who is four years his junior, remembers Professor Dhaliwal clearly during their school days. “He was always so brilliant and a top student, from ACS Teluk Anson to his days at the University of Malaya in Singapore to Professor of Genetics at the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur.”
At 23, after earning his BSc First Class Honours in Zoology, Satwant was one of two Sikhs awarded the Shell Research Fellowship at the University of Malaya in Singapore.
In early 1957, for the first time in Malaya, the Queen’s Scholarships were awarded to two Sikhs: Chatar Singh Data (aged 27) and Satwant Singh Dhaliwal (aged 24); Chatar in Physics and Satwant in Zoology. Satwant was preparing his thesis on the genetics of Malayan rats for his Master of Science degree in Systematics and Genetics.
That same year, on Vaisakhi day, the two were honoured by the proud Sikh community before their departure to the UK, at a grand farewell party hosted by the Naujawan Sikh Association.
Eventually, Satwant completed his doctorate at University of Edinburgh, obtaining a PhD in Genetics, a first for a Malaysian! His thesis was on Mutation Studies on Mouse Tumour Cells.
Ex-Business Times bureau chief for Malaysia, S Jayasankaran, who did Genetics for a year under Prof Satwant, says, “He was regarded by many of his peers as a world-class geneticist.”
Member of Parliament for Subang YB R Sivarasa, who was also his student, shares, “I was the beneficiary of his dedication to excellence as he worked tirelessly to put the Department of Genetics at the University of Malaya on a solid footing.” Sivarasa went on to pursue law at Oxford University as a Rhodes scholar.
Illustrious students
Quite a few illustrious students crossed his path and his generous nature endeared him to many including Professor Dr Suraiya Hani, daughter of our third prime minister the late Hussein Onn.
Lord Gathorne Cranbrook, the 5th Earl of Cranbrook (County of Kent), who was a colleague of Prof Satwant at the University of Malaya, emailed last week, “Prof Satwant Dhaliwal’s discipline in genetics was complementary to mine (zoology). But we shared supervision of some of the best students, including the late Dr Ho Coy Choke and Prof Yong Hoi Sen.
“Satwant was always a convivial member of the small group of lecturers in those days. I have nothing but happy memories of that formative time in my career as one of a friendly team of staff, among whom Prof Satwant Dhaliwal was a significant figure, charged with leading the discipline of genetics.”
Another colleague, Professor Dr Jose Furtado also emailed, “Satwant’s academic achievements were there for all to see. For us, he was the organiser of hockey games and a social life that was the envy of many in the University.
“Even the then-vice-chancellor Professor Alexander Oppenheim (just before Prof Ungku Aziz’s term as VC), understood a bit of boisterous behaviour as long as productive work got done - and that was a remarkable feature of Satwant; after a late night he was up early in his lab or giving lectures. Eccentricity is tolerated in British universities but not in many other places.”
For the uninitiated, Alexander Oppenheim was a top global mathematician and had formulated the now famous ‘Oppenheim Conjecture’.
All
along, he relished his academic career at the University of Malaya and
chose to stay with UM in Malaysia when the university was separated from
UM in Singapore in January 1962. But he was only 32 and quickly
discovered you had to be 35 to get a professorship at the University of
Malaya, so he waited another three years even though he was already
travelling the world on behalf of the nation.
As the youngest professor in the country, he went on to set up the newly established Faculty of Science, served as Dean of the Faculty of Science, Master of Second College, developed highly acclaimed curriculums and published numerous journals and conference papers.
Professor Satwant was contentious, but never boring!
In the early 1960s, Prof Satwant was invited for lecture tours to the United States under the auspices of the Asia Foundation and the US National Institute of Cancer. He had many sabbaticals doing major research work around the world, was a speaker at Unesco seminars in Japan, the Pacific Science Congress in Canberra and was Malaysia’s regular representative to the Council of Pacific Science Congress for nine years.
In April 1965, Prof Satwant was one of seven lecturers and a librarian who completed a two-week course at the Siputeh Territorial Army (Wataniah) training centre near Ipoh on military tactics and warfare. Graduating as a sergeant, he quickly rose through the ranks to become captain and commanding officer of the University Infantry Battalion.
In 1980, his research work took him to the Pasteur Institute, Lille and Paris, under a grant from the French government for half a year. In 1981, he was the organising chairperson of the 4th International Congress of the Society for the Advancement of Breeding Researchers in Asia and Oceania held in Kuala Lumpur.
Disdain for the mundane
His ‘unreasonableness’ and disdain for the mundane made him shine like a beacon in the night. He never said much, he didn’t have to, but was clearly a formidable genius. A very large pool of scientists remember him as their teacher.
In the 1970s, Prof Satwant was part of a team of scientific thinkers who worked on part of a paper titled ‘Codebreakers: Makers of Modern Genetics. He researched mainly in genetics and how it affected cancer and cancer cells.
Bryan Perera, current president of the Royal Selangor Club, recalls, “As a Queen’s Scholar he was indeed a great tutor and mentor to many of his students while he was professor and dean of the Faculty of Science. Many of his students later were admitted as members of the Royal Selangor Club.”
The man who helped translate scientific terms and names in fields like Zoology, Chemistry and Botany into Bahasa Malaysia for generations of students till this day, remained a legacy till the end.
His place in the annals of scientific accomplishments in Malaysia is undeniable. In the eyes of many global scholars of genetic science, Prof Satwant was a giant in science and one of Malaysia’s finest sons.
He was awarded the Kesatria Mangku Negara (KMN) in 1972 by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong at the same ceremony the late Mohamed Rahmat, one of our previous information ministers, was accorded the same.
Carrying on his passion for genetics, Prof Satwant’s grandson Kharan ‘Kurry’ Vanmali recently graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Genetics at the University of Cape Town!
Thank you, Uncle... for letting us stand on your shoulders,For living 25 hours a day,
For letting us walk in your shadows,
For saying No to mediocrity,
And most of all, thank you for being You!
SLEDGEHAMMER aka HARMANDAR SINGH aka HAM has been a columnist for The Star for over 10 years, writing on advertising and marketing issues.
My beloved uncle is Professor Dr Satwant Singh Dhaliwal; a leader and teacher, one who never hungered for the limelight but was revered nonetheless by his family, friends and fellow academics from around the world.
Yes, he never made it as vice-chancellor of the University of Malaya (UM), but he did serve as acting vice-chancellor for a while. Son of a retired postmaster in Teluk Anson (now Teluk Intan), he worked his way up to the upper echelons of academic greatness in his lifetime.
A Nelson, who was Satwant’s varsity mate, adds, “When I first met him he had the gait of an army general! We got along famously and stayed together at the newly-opened Dunearn Road Hostel (in Singapore) in 1953.
An
upstanding gentleman, he was a great scholar who was ferociously
dedicated to his passion for science. He did not compromise on
standards. Many fellow students were jealous of him because he was a
very bright spark. We had lecturers from all over the world and the
University of Malaya was regarded as among the top 20 in the world
then!”Celebrated historian and Emeritus Professor Khoo Kay Kim, who is four years his junior, remembers Professor Dhaliwal clearly during their school days. “He was always so brilliant and a top student, from ACS Teluk Anson to his days at the University of Malaya in Singapore to Professor of Genetics at the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur.”
At 23, after earning his BSc First Class Honours in Zoology, Satwant was one of two Sikhs awarded the Shell Research Fellowship at the University of Malaya in Singapore.
In early 1957, for the first time in Malaya, the Queen’s Scholarships were awarded to two Sikhs: Chatar Singh Data (aged 27) and Satwant Singh Dhaliwal (aged 24); Chatar in Physics and Satwant in Zoology. Satwant was preparing his thesis on the genetics of Malayan rats for his Master of Science degree in Systematics and Genetics.
That same year, on Vaisakhi day, the two were honoured by the proud Sikh community before their departure to the UK, at a grand farewell party hosted by the Naujawan Sikh Association.
Eventually, Satwant completed his doctorate at University of Edinburgh, obtaining a PhD in Genetics, a first for a Malaysian! His thesis was on Mutation Studies on Mouse Tumour Cells.
Ex-Business Times bureau chief for Malaysia, S Jayasankaran, who did Genetics for a year under Prof Satwant, says, “He was regarded by many of his peers as a world-class geneticist.”
Member of Parliament for Subang YB R Sivarasa, who was also his student, shares, “I was the beneficiary of his dedication to excellence as he worked tirelessly to put the Department of Genetics at the University of Malaya on a solid footing.” Sivarasa went on to pursue law at Oxford University as a Rhodes scholar.
Illustrious students
Quite a few illustrious students crossed his path and his generous nature endeared him to many including Professor Dr Suraiya Hani, daughter of our third prime minister the late Hussein Onn.
Lord Gathorne Cranbrook, the 5th Earl of Cranbrook (County of Kent), who was a colleague of Prof Satwant at the University of Malaya, emailed last week, “Prof Satwant Dhaliwal’s discipline in genetics was complementary to mine (zoology). But we shared supervision of some of the best students, including the late Dr Ho Coy Choke and Prof Yong Hoi Sen.
“Satwant was always a convivial member of the small group of lecturers in those days. I have nothing but happy memories of that formative time in my career as one of a friendly team of staff, among whom Prof Satwant Dhaliwal was a significant figure, charged with leading the discipline of genetics.”
Another colleague, Professor Dr Jose Furtado also emailed, “Satwant’s academic achievements were there for all to see. For us, he was the organiser of hockey games and a social life that was the envy of many in the University.
“Even the then-vice-chancellor Professor Alexander Oppenheim (just before Prof Ungku Aziz’s term as VC), understood a bit of boisterous behaviour as long as productive work got done - and that was a remarkable feature of Satwant; after a late night he was up early in his lab or giving lectures. Eccentricity is tolerated in British universities but not in many other places.”
For the uninitiated, Alexander Oppenheim was a top global mathematician and had formulated the now famous ‘Oppenheim Conjecture’.
All
along, he relished his academic career at the University of Malaya and
chose to stay with UM in Malaysia when the university was separated from
UM in Singapore in January 1962. But he was only 32 and quickly
discovered you had to be 35 to get a professorship at the University of
Malaya, so he waited another three years even though he was already
travelling the world on behalf of the nation.As the youngest professor in the country, he went on to set up the newly established Faculty of Science, served as Dean of the Faculty of Science, Master of Second College, developed highly acclaimed curriculums and published numerous journals and conference papers.
Professor Satwant was contentious, but never boring!
In the early 1960s, Prof Satwant was invited for lecture tours to the United States under the auspices of the Asia Foundation and the US National Institute of Cancer. He had many sabbaticals doing major research work around the world, was a speaker at Unesco seminars in Japan, the Pacific Science Congress in Canberra and was Malaysia’s regular representative to the Council of Pacific Science Congress for nine years.
In April 1965, Prof Satwant was one of seven lecturers and a librarian who completed a two-week course at the Siputeh Territorial Army (Wataniah) training centre near Ipoh on military tactics and warfare. Graduating as a sergeant, he quickly rose through the ranks to become captain and commanding officer of the University Infantry Battalion.
In 1980, his research work took him to the Pasteur Institute, Lille and Paris, under a grant from the French government for half a year. In 1981, he was the organising chairperson of the 4th International Congress of the Society for the Advancement of Breeding Researchers in Asia and Oceania held in Kuala Lumpur.
Disdain for the mundane
His ‘unreasonableness’ and disdain for the mundane made him shine like a beacon in the night. He never said much, he didn’t have to, but was clearly a formidable genius. A very large pool of scientists remember him as their teacher.
In the 1970s, Prof Satwant was part of a team of scientific thinkers who worked on part of a paper titled ‘Codebreakers: Makers of Modern Genetics. He researched mainly in genetics and how it affected cancer and cancer cells.
Bryan Perera, current president of the Royal Selangor Club, recalls, “As a Queen’s Scholar he was indeed a great tutor and mentor to many of his students while he was professor and dean of the Faculty of Science. Many of his students later were admitted as members of the Royal Selangor Club.”
The man who helped translate scientific terms and names in fields like Zoology, Chemistry and Botany into Bahasa Malaysia for generations of students till this day, remained a legacy till the end.
His place in the annals of scientific accomplishments in Malaysia is undeniable. In the eyes of many global scholars of genetic science, Prof Satwant was a giant in science and one of Malaysia’s finest sons.
He was awarded the Kesatria Mangku Negara (KMN) in 1972 by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong at the same ceremony the late Mohamed Rahmat, one of our previous information ministers, was accorded the same.
Carrying on his passion for genetics, Prof Satwant’s grandson Kharan ‘Kurry’ Vanmali recently graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Genetics at the University of Cape Town!
Thank you, Uncle... for letting us stand on your shoulders,For living 25 hours a day,
For letting us walk in your shadows,
For saying No to mediocrity,
And most of all, thank you for being You!
SLEDGEHAMMER aka HARMANDAR SINGH aka HAM has been a columnist for The Star for over 10 years, writing on advertising and marketing issues.
Najib must stop Khairy-Shafee anti-Anwar tirade
The onus is on Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak or his deputy to deny Umno/BN’s involvement.
FMT
KUALA LUMPUR: The nationwide roadshow to character-assassinate and smear the name of Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim was the brainchild of Umno Youth Leader and Minister for Youth and Sports, Khairy Jamaluddin, who announced at the first stop of the roadshow in Kelana Jaya last Tuesday that the Barisan Nasional (BN) was launching the campaign, featuring Sodomy II lead prosecutor Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, to explain the February 10 Federal Court judgment as it had “kept silent for six years because the trial was in progress”.
Will the Chief Justice of Malaysia also be leading Federal Court judges to join the nationwide roadshow to justify and win in the court of public opinion on their decision against Anwar which has not found support among the majority of thinking Malaysians?
“Malaysia has become a very strange and abnormal country, where the strangest of things can happen,” said DAP elder statesman Lim Kit Siang.
Unless the Prime Minister or the Deputy Prime Minister is prepared to come out openly to deny Khairy’s claim that the BN is behind the Shafee roadshow against Anwar, warned Lim who is also DAP Parliamentary Leader and Gelang Patah MP, “Malaysians can only conclude that the Umno/BN leadership is continuing its vile and vicious vendetta against Anwar even after incarcerating him for the fourth time in his life”.
It’s not enough that a few Umno leaders have expressed reservations about Umno/BN involvement with Shafee’s anti-Anwar tirade.
It’s not enough for Deputy Finance Minister Ahmad Maslan to claim that the campaign to smear Anwar was not funded by Umno or the government.
Who is a Deputy Minister or unnamed Umno leaders to rebut the announcement and admission of a full Minister like Khairy Jamaluddin?
Lim noted that Mohd Azmi Abdul, the president of the Malaysian Consultative Council of Islamic Organisations, in his article in malaysiakini “Let’s stop this ‘Sodomy Politics’, now” summed up not only the objection but the repulsion of ordinary Malaysians at the depths plumbed by those in authority in the vile campaign of character-assassination against Anwar, when he asked:
“Shafee’s character assassination of Anwar at the forum, with Anwar having no opportunity to defend himself, was despicable, unethical, unIslamic and cowardly.
“How can one sink so low! The roadshow shows how disconnected Shafee and Khairy (Jamaluddin) are from the teachings of Islam, resulting in them losing their moral compass.”
In the second stop of Shafee’s nationwide roadshow on Saturday night in Permatang Pauh, the media were told that they were banned from reporting the event, which was even more unfair to Anwar as it meant that the lawyer was at liberty to say anything he liked against the jailed leader while hiding from the media.
Shafee’s roadshow against Anwar, continued Lim, to have a second bite of the cherry as he could not win in the court of public opinion, is also an admission that the Federal Court’s 5-0 unanimous opinion convicting Anwar in the Sodomy II case and sentencing him to five years jail lacks credibility whatsoever.
“Although the five Federal Court judges found Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan a credible witness, the court of public opinion does not find the Federal Court decision a credible one, which also means that the court of public opinion does not agree with the Federal Court and holds that Mohd Saiful is not a credible witness.”
The Shafee roadshow, reiterated Lim, must be halted immediately.
FMTKUALA LUMPUR: The nationwide roadshow to character-assassinate and smear the name of Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim was the brainchild of Umno Youth Leader and Minister for Youth and Sports, Khairy Jamaluddin, who announced at the first stop of the roadshow in Kelana Jaya last Tuesday that the Barisan Nasional (BN) was launching the campaign, featuring Sodomy II lead prosecutor Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, to explain the February 10 Federal Court judgment as it had “kept silent for six years because the trial was in progress”.
Will the Chief Justice of Malaysia also be leading Federal Court judges to join the nationwide roadshow to justify and win in the court of public opinion on their decision against Anwar which has not found support among the majority of thinking Malaysians?
“Malaysia has become a very strange and abnormal country, where the strangest of things can happen,” said DAP elder statesman Lim Kit Siang.
Unless the Prime Minister or the Deputy Prime Minister is prepared to come out openly to deny Khairy’s claim that the BN is behind the Shafee roadshow against Anwar, warned Lim who is also DAP Parliamentary Leader and Gelang Patah MP, “Malaysians can only conclude that the Umno/BN leadership is continuing its vile and vicious vendetta against Anwar even after incarcerating him for the fourth time in his life”.
It’s not enough that a few Umno leaders have expressed reservations about Umno/BN involvement with Shafee’s anti-Anwar tirade.
It’s not enough for Deputy Finance Minister Ahmad Maslan to claim that the campaign to smear Anwar was not funded by Umno or the government.
Who is a Deputy Minister or unnamed Umno leaders to rebut the announcement and admission of a full Minister like Khairy Jamaluddin?
Lim noted that Mohd Azmi Abdul, the president of the Malaysian Consultative Council of Islamic Organisations, in his article in malaysiakini “Let’s stop this ‘Sodomy Politics’, now” summed up not only the objection but the repulsion of ordinary Malaysians at the depths plumbed by those in authority in the vile campaign of character-assassination against Anwar, when he asked:
“Shafee’s character assassination of Anwar at the forum, with Anwar having no opportunity to defend himself, was despicable, unethical, unIslamic and cowardly.
“How can one sink so low! The roadshow shows how disconnected Shafee and Khairy (Jamaluddin) are from the teachings of Islam, resulting in them losing their moral compass.”
In the second stop of Shafee’s nationwide roadshow on Saturday night in Permatang Pauh, the media were told that they were banned from reporting the event, which was even more unfair to Anwar as it meant that the lawyer was at liberty to say anything he liked against the jailed leader while hiding from the media.
Shafee’s roadshow against Anwar, continued Lim, to have a second bite of the cherry as he could not win in the court of public opinion, is also an admission that the Federal Court’s 5-0 unanimous opinion convicting Anwar in the Sodomy II case and sentencing him to five years jail lacks credibility whatsoever.
“Although the five Federal Court judges found Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan a credible witness, the court of public opinion does not find the Federal Court decision a credible one, which also means that the court of public opinion does not agree with the Federal Court and holds that Mohd Saiful is not a credible witness.”
The Shafee roadshow, reiterated Lim, must be halted immediately.
RCI needed to address plight of ‘underclass’ Indians
.02The RCI can also be expected to ask why a population of 7 per cent is responsible for more than 60 per cent of the violent crimes in the country.
FMT
KUALA LUMPUR: Hindraf Makkal Sakthi, the ad hoc apolitical human rights movement working across the political divide, has called for a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on the plight of the “underclass” Indians in the country who have been left in the twilight zone by independence and fragmentation of estates.
The underclass, according to Hindraf chairman P. Waythamoorthy, is made up of at least 800,000 displaced estate workers and 300,000 stateless people. Earlier figures cited were as high as 850,000 and 350,000 people respectively.
Statelessness keeps the people affected as a readily-available domestic pool of slave labour who don’t figure in official records.
“Only an RCI can establish the tragic reality behind these figures and the plight that has led to marginalization,” said Waytha in revisiting his exit from the Federal Government last year, after a brief few months, over a 5-year RM4.5 billion Hindraf-Barisan Nasional (BN) Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on underclass Indians.
Waytha, at that time, had blamed Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak for the failure of the MOU to take off. It was used by Najib to slash Indian support for the Opposition in 2013 to 55 per cent, down from the 85 per cent in 2008. “The Government has been in complete breach on the MOU and only a RCI can help rectify this,” he said. “The RCI’s recommendations should be incorporated in the 11th Malaysia Plan.”
The emphasis in the MOU was on making land available for agricultural pursuits, training opportunities for the acquisition of marketable skills, scholarships, recognition of degrees of universities abroad which Indian students attend, and personal documents under Article 30 of the Federal Constitution.
The RCI can also be expected to ask why a population of 7 per cent is responsible for more than 60 per cent of the violent crimes in the country and leading to many deaths in police custody.
Waytha expressed regret that with Hindraf out of the Government, the BN has gone back to its old ways of dishing out crumbs to Indian-based political parties, within and outside the ruling coalition, to keep Indian voters away from the Opposition, if there’s resistance against supporting it.
The Government, he pleaded, had obligations, responsibilities and duties towards all citizens and urged that it adopt a needs-based approach instead of playing to the gallery on race and religion in the hope of remaining in power for as long as possible. “It’s not the done thing to live in a state of denial on the plight of a large number of people in the country and only pay lip service every General Election.”
The Government, he reiterated, was barking up the wrong tree by continuing to place its hopes on the discredited leaders of Indian-based political parties, within and outside the ruling coalition. “This approach has been tried since independence in 1957 and has not worked. It’s no use throwing good money after bad or down a bottomless pit.”
FMT
KUALA LUMPUR: Hindraf Makkal Sakthi, the ad hoc apolitical human rights movement working across the political divide, has called for a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on the plight of the “underclass” Indians in the country who have been left in the twilight zone by independence and fragmentation of estates.
The underclass, according to Hindraf chairman P. Waythamoorthy, is made up of at least 800,000 displaced estate workers and 300,000 stateless people. Earlier figures cited were as high as 850,000 and 350,000 people respectively.
Statelessness keeps the people affected as a readily-available domestic pool of slave labour who don’t figure in official records.
“Only an RCI can establish the tragic reality behind these figures and the plight that has led to marginalization,” said Waytha in revisiting his exit from the Federal Government last year, after a brief few months, over a 5-year RM4.5 billion Hindraf-Barisan Nasional (BN) Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on underclass Indians.
Waytha, at that time, had blamed Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak for the failure of the MOU to take off. It was used by Najib to slash Indian support for the Opposition in 2013 to 55 per cent, down from the 85 per cent in 2008. “The Government has been in complete breach on the MOU and only a RCI can help rectify this,” he said. “The RCI’s recommendations should be incorporated in the 11th Malaysia Plan.”
The emphasis in the MOU was on making land available for agricultural pursuits, training opportunities for the acquisition of marketable skills, scholarships, recognition of degrees of universities abroad which Indian students attend, and personal documents under Article 30 of the Federal Constitution.
The RCI can also be expected to ask why a population of 7 per cent is responsible for more than 60 per cent of the violent crimes in the country and leading to many deaths in police custody.
Waytha expressed regret that with Hindraf out of the Government, the BN has gone back to its old ways of dishing out crumbs to Indian-based political parties, within and outside the ruling coalition, to keep Indian voters away from the Opposition, if there’s resistance against supporting it.
The Government, he pleaded, had obligations, responsibilities and duties towards all citizens and urged that it adopt a needs-based approach instead of playing to the gallery on race and religion in the hope of remaining in power for as long as possible. “It’s not the done thing to live in a state of denial on the plight of a large number of people in the country and only pay lip service every General Election.”
The Government, he reiterated, was barking up the wrong tree by continuing to place its hopes on the discredited leaders of Indian-based political parties, within and outside the ruling coalition. “This approach has been tried since independence in 1957 and has not worked. It’s no use throwing good money after bad or down a bottomless pit.”
Group wants second legal body
The Star BY MAZWIN NIK ANIS
PETALING
JAYA: Disappointed with the Bar Council for its criticism against the
judiciary, legal volunteer group SukaGuam wants to hold roadshows to
gather feedback from the legal fraternity on the prospect of forming
another legal body.
SukaGuam
chairman Datuk Khairul Anwar Rahmat said having a second body would
give lawyers the freedom of choosing the entity which they want to
belong to instead of forcing theminto a situation where they are
implicated along with the negative actions of the Bar Council.
“We
will meet not only practising lawyers but also law graduates to get
their views on the possibility of setting up another body for the legal
fraternity,” he said.
On
Saturday, some 100 members said they would seek the resignation and ask
that the Attorney-General initiate contempt proceeding against Bar
Council president Christopher Leong if he does not retract his statement
on the Federal Court’s decision to uphold Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s
sodomy conviction.
Senior
lawyer Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahman who spoke on behalf of the
lawyers said they were concerned that the Bar president made such
remarks about the judicial system and the courts “in the name of
representing the Malaysian Bar”.
Leong,
in response to the group’s demand, had welcomed their views and
encouraged them to attend the Malaysian Bar annual general meeting on
March 14 to raise the matter. The Bar Council has almost 16,000 members.
Yesterday,
the 100 practising lawyers, known as G100 said they were not associated
with SukaGuam and had not mandated anyone or group other than its
official spokesman to issue statements on their behalf.
“As
much as G100 as a group of concerned, independent, individual members
of the Bar is calling for fellow members to support of the petition
regardless of their political leanings or beliefs, this effort and
exercise is not headed or arranged by any organisation, political or
otherwise,” the group said in a statement.
More Responsible MP In Permatang Pauh If Voters Choose BN - Liow
BENTONG,
Feb 23 (Bernama) -- Voters in Permatang Pauh will have a more
responsible Member of Parliament (MP) if the Barisan Nasional's (BN)
candidate is given the chance to represent them through a parliamentary
by-election expected to be called soon.MCA President Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said although Permatang Pauh was deemed PKR's stronghold, the residents were clearly in need of a representative who could really serve them and BN was prepared to do so and to give them the opportunity to make a change.
Liow, who is also Transport Minister, said this to reporters after attending a Chinese New Year do at Sungai Penjuring Community Hall here Monday.
He said although Penang was being ruled by the opposition pact, it was no secret that the component parties were having domestic crisis.
"They have not been able to reach an agreement or find solutions to several issues, such as the implementation of hudud law and local government elections," he said.
Liow said the situation clearly differed in BN which had always showcased solidarity in every issue for the sake of the multi-racial and multi-religious people in the country.
Permatang Pauh parliamentary by-election is expected to be called as the seat held by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim may be declared 'officially vacant' soon.
The Federal Court on Feb 10, threw out Anwar's appeal against charges of sodomising his former aide, Saiful Bahari Azlan in 2008, and upheld his five-year jail sentence.
The Permatang Pauh incumbent had 14 days from the date he was convicted and sentenced for sodomy, to file a petition for royal pardon, but has not made any move so far.
-- BERNAMA
Muslim boy 'forced' to lodge report against Hindu dad
A 14-year-old schoolboy has alleged that he was
locked up in a room in an Islamic missionary centre in Negri Sembilan
for more than three hours.
S Thiyaggurudeen said he was locked up before being forced by two of his teachers to lodge a police report against his Hindu father, who is trying to change the boy's religion from Islam to Hindu.
The boy, who goes to a school near Port Dickson said two Muslim teachers took him out of the school on Feb 13 and made him drink some 'air penawar' before forcing him to sign the police report blindly.
He was forced to sign the police report against his father at the Lukut police station, the boy said.
In Malay traditions, 'air penawar' commonly refers to water which is prayed over giving it healing properties.
He related this in a police report he lodged on Feb 17 on the incident, sent to Malaysiakini by PKR leader S Jayathas.
The
boy said he was taken to the missionary centre where he was grilled for
more than three hours by a group who claimed to be Islamic affairs
department officers.
He was eventually rescued by his father who managed to track down the boy's whereabouts.
The teenager is still listed as a Muslim on his MyKad identity card although his father is a Hindu and his mother an Indonesian Muslim.
His father, S Ganesan, had applied to the Syariah Court to change his son's religion but was told he needed to wait until the boy is 18 years of age to obtain his consent.
Hindu, Muslim, back to Hindu
Ganesan said the police report the two teachers forced his son to sign alleged that Ganesan had been physically abusing the boy since 2012 to ensure the boy left Islam.
"Until
now, I have not received an explanation from the school as to why the
teachers acted in such a manner," an unhappy Ganesan told Malaysiakini.
Ganesan himself was once Muslim. He converted to Islam when he married a Muslim woman in 1982 but was successful with his apostasy application in 1987 along with his wife and three kids.
His second wife, an Indonesian Muslim, left for Indonesia with the couple's second child after divorcing him.
Thiyaggurudeen is the eldest child from Ganesan's second marriage and has faced problems with his identity card and birth certification ever since.
Ganesan tracked down his son after being tipped off by a security guard at his son's school.
Both the teachers, when confronted, denied any suggestion that they took the boy anywhere, Ganesan said.
Teachers or religious officials?
"About three weeks before the incident, the school had acknowledged my request not to teach my son Islamic Studies after I explained his status and his situation to them," he further said.
Ganesan
said he lodged a police report regarding his son's ordeal on the night
of Feb 13, while Thiyaggurudeen lodged his own police report at the
Seremban police station on Feb 17.
Jayathas said that the teachers had acted in an "improper manner" by bringing the child about without the father's consent.
"There is rule of law in this land. There is no need for teachers to behave like religious officials," he said.
S Thiyaggurudeen said he was locked up before being forced by two of his teachers to lodge a police report against his Hindu father, who is trying to change the boy's religion from Islam to Hindu.
The boy, who goes to a school near Port Dickson said two Muslim teachers took him out of the school on Feb 13 and made him drink some 'air penawar' before forcing him to sign the police report blindly.
He was forced to sign the police report against his father at the Lukut police station, the boy said.
In Malay traditions, 'air penawar' commonly refers to water which is prayed over giving it healing properties.
He related this in a police report he lodged on Feb 17 on the incident, sent to Malaysiakini by PKR leader S Jayathas.
The
boy said he was taken to the missionary centre where he was grilled for
more than three hours by a group who claimed to be Islamic affairs
department officers.He was eventually rescued by his father who managed to track down the boy's whereabouts.
The teenager is still listed as a Muslim on his MyKad identity card although his father is a Hindu and his mother an Indonesian Muslim.
His father, S Ganesan, had applied to the Syariah Court to change his son's religion but was told he needed to wait until the boy is 18 years of age to obtain his consent.
Hindu, Muslim, back to Hindu
Ganesan said the police report the two teachers forced his son to sign alleged that Ganesan had been physically abusing the boy since 2012 to ensure the boy left Islam.
"Until
now, I have not received an explanation from the school as to why the
teachers acted in such a manner," an unhappy Ganesan told Malaysiakini.Ganesan himself was once Muslim. He converted to Islam when he married a Muslim woman in 1982 but was successful with his apostasy application in 1987 along with his wife and three kids.
His second wife, an Indonesian Muslim, left for Indonesia with the couple's second child after divorcing him.
Thiyaggurudeen is the eldest child from Ganesan's second marriage and has faced problems with his identity card and birth certification ever since.
Ganesan tracked down his son after being tipped off by a security guard at his son's school.
Both the teachers, when confronted, denied any suggestion that they took the boy anywhere, Ganesan said.
Teachers or religious officials?
"About three weeks before the incident, the school had acknowledged my request not to teach my son Islamic Studies after I explained his status and his situation to them," he further said.
Ganesan
said he lodged a police report regarding his son's ordeal on the night
of Feb 13, while Thiyaggurudeen lodged his own police report at the
Seremban police station on Feb 17.Jayathas said that the teachers had acted in an "improper manner" by bringing the child about without the father's consent.
"There is rule of law in this land. There is no need for teachers to behave like religious officials," he said.
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